Community Infrastructure Levy

What is the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)?

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) allows local planning authorities to raise funds from developers who are carrying out building projects in their area. CIL can be charged on most new developments on a pound (£) per square metre basis and can be used for improvements to local infrastructure such as roads, schools and open spaces.

CIL charges are set out in a document called a 'charging schedule'. We consulted on a revised charging schedule from January to March 2017.

Since the last consultation took place on the draft Charging Schedule, the Government commissioned an independent review of CIL which has been carried out by the CIL review team who made variousrecommendations to Government for consideration.

The key recommendation is to replace CIL with a Local Infrastructure Tariff (LIT) to be calculated using a national formula and based on local market values.

CIL examination

Until such time as the Government makes further announcements regarding this review, officers consider it important to proceed with CIL given the important role it plays in helping to fund essential infrastructure.

On this basis it is anticipated that the revised draft CIL charging schedule will be submitted for examination in early 2018 with a view to adoption later in the year.

Revised CIL draft charging schedule

The Council’s original draft charging schedule was revised to take account of previous consultation responses, the CIL examiner’s initial findings, updated evidence and national policy. The revised draft charging schedule was the subject of a 6-week period of public consultation from 27 January 2017 until 10 March 2017.

The revised draft CIL charging schedule is available to download below.

Also available is a tracked change version to illustrate the proposed changes more clearly.

Community Infrastructure Levy heading sessions

In April 2017 the comments received will be submitted to the CIL examiner together with the revised charging schedule and supporting evidence. A date will be then be set for the CIL hearing sessions to be resumed. We anticipate that this will be alongside the Local Plan hearing sessions in July 2017. This website will be updated once the examination arrangements are confirmed. The examination will be held at the Council's Woodgreen offices in Witney.

2014: consultation on draft charging schedule

As the first step to introducing CIL into West Oxfordshire, we consulted on a preliminary draft charging schedule (PDCS) from December 2013 – February 2014. For further information, and to view the consultation documents and responses, follow the link below:

2015: examination of charging schedule and suspension of examination

Examination of CIL charging schedule (November 2015)

The charging schedule was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for Examination on 10 September 2015, together with a schedule of proposed minor modifications which were the subject of consultation from 16 September until 16 October 2015.

A copy of the letter confirming this submission is available to download below together with the three responses received to the proposed minor modifications consultation.

The Examiner raised some initial concerns about the application of CIL charges for commercial development in different parts of the District. To address these concerns, the Council consulted on the introduction of settlement boundaries for the purposes of CIL to provide greater clarity as to where different CIL charges will apply.

The consultation ran from 20 November until 18 December 2015.

Suspension of examination

There was some discussion of a number of CIL matters alongside the Local Plan examination session held on Thursday 26 November 2015. In light of the suspension of the Local Plan examination, the CIL examination was suspended until January 2016 alongside the Local Plan. The Council is aiming to resume the CIL examination in Spring 2017 following consultation on the revised draft charging schedule. A copy of the letter from the CIL examiner confirming the suspension of the examination is available to download below.

In addition to the documents listed in the schedule above, the Council submitted copies of the draft charging schedule consultation responses to the examiner. These can be viewed following the link below: